Christie’s and Sotheby’s enjoy record sales

The two auction houses have made hay with a buoyant art market

Francis Bacon's 'Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards' sold for $80.8m (£47.9m)Photo: KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/AP

By Tara Kilcoyne

4:25PM BST 16 Jul 2014

Renowned auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s have reported record growth in sales for the first half of 2014.

Whilst Christie’s saw total sales of nearly £2.7 billion, an increase of 12pc in comparison to the previous year, Sotheby’s auction sales have grown by 22pc, faster than any of its competitors, with record sales in several major categories.

The sales figures reflected an emergence of new buyers from across the globe and increased engagement with customers online.

Claude Monet’s Nympheas was the most expensive Impressionist painting auctioned this year at £31.7m

Christie’s has seen significant growth in Post-War and Contemporary Art, with sales of £799.9 million in that category, up 20pc from the previous year.

Sotheby’s were likewise successful, recording sales of $930 million dollars in auctions of Impressionist and Modern Art alone, a 21pc increase. The sale of Claude Monet’s Nympheas, sold by Sotheby’s in June, achieved the highest price for any Impressionist painting sold at auction this year, £31.7 million.

Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s also experienced success in sales on a wider global scale. Christie’s saw an emerging clientele from the Americas, with New York sales up 20pc to £1.1 billion, including the sale of Francis Bacon’s Three Studies For A Portrait of John Edwards for £47,674,950.

On the other side of the world, Sotheby’s dominated Asian sales, obtaining $490 million, a growth of 47pc. The auction houses’ attempts to reach out to collectors also paid off: 24pc of all buyers in the first half of 2014 were new to Christie’s and 26pc new to Sotheby’s.

Looking ahead, both Christie’s and Sotheby’s seem to be concentrating on improving on their successes this first half. Sotheby’s recently announced partnership with eBay has extended its reach to another 145 million potential buyers, marking the beginning of an increased focus on digital sales.

The introduction of a Christie’s App for iPads and iPhones indicates online sales will play an increasingly important role in the success of both auction houses.